Film-winding mechanism



J. C. YOUNGBLOOD.

FILM WINDING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 25.1919.

1 ,3%@,@ l 8.; Patented Nov. 4, 1919.

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.l. C. YOUNGBLOOD. I

FILM WINDING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION man JUNE 25. I919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

DD CIUEICI D n u n n 9 g u u 6/ 5 g F g A? u U U J. C. YOUNGBLOOD.

FILM WINDING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 25. I9I9.

1 ,320,8 1 I Patented Nov. 4, 1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

JOSEPH 0. YOUNGZBLOOD, 0F. ATWOOD, KANSAS.

FILM-WINDING- MECHANISM.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. a, 1919.

Application filed June 25. 1919. Serial No. 806,680.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOSEPH C. YOUNG- BLOOD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Atwood, in the county of Rawlins and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Film- Winding Mechanism; and I do declare the following to be a-full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it ap pertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to film winding and unwinding mechanism for motion picture projecting machines, and particularly to mechanism whereby the film may be unwound froml one reel onto another reel of like construction in such manner that the two reels may be interchanged so that the reel previously containing the film'may become the winding reel and the reel upon which the film has just been woundmay become the unwinding reel.

The primary advantage resulting from the construction embodying my invention is that the necessity for rewinding the film before the film is ready for another unwind-' ing operation is eliminated. For example, in the earlier so-called moving picture machines, the film was intermittently fed between the condensing lens and the projecting lens of the projectoscope on to a dummy reel and after the film had been fed off the reel originally containing it, it was thought necessary to rewind thefilm back upon the original reel or upon a similar reel before the picture was again shown. This was considered necessary because the film was originally wound upon the reel with the last part of the picture or story on the inside of the unwound coil. Obviously as the film was unwound from the periphery of the coil upon the receiving reel in displaying the picture, the last part of the picture or story finished up on the outside of the film coil. In order to restore the film to its original arrangement, the rewinding operation was practised.

Rewinding the film not only requires considerable time but shortens the life of the film due to excessive handling, wear and tear, etc., so that it is now estimated that many thousands of dollars worth of film deteriorates each day due solely to the pracfrom the unwinding reel, the winding reel may be changed therefor and the film will be ready to be projected without a separate rewinding operation. Thus, the wear and tear and liability of deterioration due to handling, is materially reduced.

My invention also contemplates the pro vision of means whereby the pull or tension exerted upon the film by the receiving reel will be evenly distributed throughout all portions of the film so as to avoid liability of uneven stretching or wear, due to binding, and according to my invention, the film is unwound from the center of the film coil on the unwinding reel and wound from the center toward the periphery on the winding reel so that the inner coils on each reel will contain the beginning of the picture.

I have also provided means whereby the film travels the shortest distance between the winding reel and unwinding reel and I am thereby enabled to mount the reel upon horizontal axes so that the film travels in a vertical plane between the condensing lens and the projecting lens of the projectoscope without the necessity of twisting or turning the unwound portion of thefilm during the unwinding thereof.

I am aware that it has been proposed to provide means whereby the film ma be continuously wound and unwound wit out any intermediate steps, such as rewinding, but in all devices known to me, the film reels are mounted on vertical axes so that it becomes necessary to loop the exposed portion of the film about rollers to make it traverse a. vertical path past the projectoscope lens.

In the drawings,

Figure I is a transverse sectional view through a winding reel and unwinding reel constructed in accordance with my invention, the projectoscope being shown in elevation.

Fig. II is a view partly in elevation and partly in section of a reel showing the film in its unwinding position looking in the direction of the arrow A in Fig. IV.

Fig. III is a similar view looking in the direction of the arrow B in Fig. I

Fig. IV is a sectional view on the line IV of Fig. III, showing the threading roll.

Fig. V is a detail view of an adjusting pin for the tension relieving device for the reel, and

Fig. VI is a detail view of the threading rollers.

Referring now to the drawings by numerals of reference:

I) designates the delivery or unwinding reel and R the receiving or winding reel. Each reel is a duplicate of the other so a description of one will suffice for both. The reel is shown as comprising a film-receiving portion consisting of two plates 1 and 2, connected together by a circular series of anti-friction rollers 3, upon which the film may be wound. The outer plate 2 is provided with a circular recess 1 through which projects a substantially cylindrical guide or track support 5 about which is an elliptical spiral film guide or track, the diametrically opposite portions of which are inclined in opposite directions. The spiral track is shown as constructed of two spiral flanges 6 and 7, spaced apart and secured to the support 5 by any suitable means and these flanges carry anti-friction rollers 8 over which the film may pass as it leaves the rollers 3.

By reference to Fig. II it will be observed that the spiral flanges 6 and 7 are of vari able widths; for example, it will be understood that when the reel is in unwinding position it will be held stationary by any suitable means and assuming that it is in position as shown in Fig. II, it will be observed that the bottom portion 9 of flange 6 is relatively narrower than the top portion 10, and thatthe bottom 11 of flange 7 is relatively wider than the top portion 12 opposite the portion 10 of flange 6, so that the bottom of the track is inclined outwardly away from the axis of the reel and that the top of the track is inclined inwardly toward the axis of the reel and that the delivery portion of the track is offset with respect to the receiving portion of the reel when the reel is unwinding; this portion, though, being the receiving portion of the reel when it is winding. Therefore, the film 13 will traverse the shortest path between the two reels in passing between the condensing lens 14- and the projecting lens 15 of the projectoscope 16.

It will also be observed that the reels are mounted upon horizontal axes so that the film traverses a vertical plane past the p'rojectoscope to bring the picture division in proper relative position to be projected upon the screen.

The film is wound upon the rollers 3' and springs 18 and 18 carried by the plates 1 and 2 so as to cause it to bind the film slightly between the roller 17 and one of the rollers 3. Therefore, when the knurled nut 19 on roller 17 is rotated manually, the filmfrom the inner coil may be fed between the rollers and over the spiral track through the opening 20 from the unwinding reel,

and thence into a similar opening/and through the track around the rollers 3 for the winding reel.

Since the winding of the film upon the reel R will be due to the tension exerted upon the film, there will be tendency for the coil of film to bind against the rollers during the winding operation and under cer= tain conditions, the film might be wound too tight upon the rollers to release when the winding reel is interchanged for the unwinding reel; but I have provided means for preventing this by applying a tension relieving mechanism which consists of appropriately located tension relievin rollers 21 which are eccentricallymounte upon shafts 22 and to each roller is connected a crank 23, the cranks being connected by links 24 so that the movement of one link will cause a corresponding movement of all of the links and consequently, rotate all of the cranks and shift the rollers 21 about their shafts 22.

On one of the links is a shifter head 25 having a. depending pin 26 provided with a collar 27 between which and the link 21 is a spring 28 the 'pin being adapted to enter an opening 29 or 30, according to the position that the rollers are to assume. If the pin 26 is in opening 29, the cranks will be operated so as to swing the eccentric rollers 21 so that their-edges will extend slightly beyond the edges of adjacent rollers 3. This will be the position that the rollers 21 will assume when the film is winding.

When it is desired to unwind the film, the pin 26 on the reel from which the film is to be unwound, will be inserted in opening 30 so that the outer edges of the rollers 21 will be inside the outer edges of the rollers 3 but the pin on the winding reel will be in opening 29 so that the edges of-rollers 21 will be on the outside of the rollers 3. Therefore, the film can be caused to be wound upon the reel formed by the rollers 21 carried by the winding reel but that portion of the film carried by the unwinding reel will be permitted to rotate about the rollers 3 without friction.

It will be apparent that the film will be wound in a 0011 slightly in excess of the diameterof the ring formed by the rollers 3 since the rollers 21 in their film-receiving position project slightly beyond the ring formed by the rollers 3, and this will give sufficient tension upon the winding portion of the film to unwind it from the unwinding rollers D. When the film has been wound Lea ers w i i upon R, the tension-relieving rollers 21 may be retracted within the ring formed by the rollers 3 so that the tension on the film will be relieved to' permit the coil to readily rotate upon the rollers 3 to assist in feeding therefrom,,and since the rollers 21 are projected beyond the rollers 3 on the winding roll', the film will be held rigid with respect to the winding roll and thereby enable the film to be wound under tension, as will be obvious by reference to Fig. I. The track may be provided with a spiral cover 31 adapted to be covered by plush, felt or some carrier.

other suitable fibrous material and as the film passes between the fibrous lining of the cover 31 and the rollers bindingof the film due to friction will be avoided, the pressure. against the film being only great-enough to thread the film around is e track so that it winding of the film may continue for roi may be ready-to deliver the film -for reproection of the picture without rewinding. herefore, the contmuous winding and unjecting the picture without any interme iate steps such as commonly practised.

It will also be apparent that the eccentrically mounted rollers 21 constitute a reel I upon which the film may be preliminarily wound into a relatively tight coil. When the winding reel is interchanged for the unwinding reel and it becomes necessaryor desirableto rotate the entire coil of film about its axis, the reel consistin of the cocentric rollers 21 will be retracte or shifted to transfer the coil ontothe reel consisting of the rollers 3, and since thecircumference of the reel made up of the rollers 3 will be of less diameter than that of the rollers 21 when they are in an extended position, it will be obvious that the coil of film :may start to feed as soon as it is subjected to a slight ulling tension without any liability of bin ing.

This, I consider, an important feature as it enables the film to be removed without undue friction and wearing thereof.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters-Patent is:

1. In film unwinding mechanism, a film I storage device comprising a plurality of rollers arranged in circular series to provide a reel, and a supplementary reel pro jectable beyond and retractable Within the periphery of the first named reel.

2. In film unwinding mechanism, a film storage device comprismg a reel consisting of a pluralitgl of rollers arranged inlcircular I series, and m-receiving elements rojectable beyond and retraetable withint e outer edges of certain ofthe rollers. 1 a v 3. In film unwinding mechanism, a storage device comprising a reel upon which (5- the film "may be wound, eccentrically ,mounted rollers, and means for rotating the frollers so that their: outer edges may be swung beyond the outer edges of the reel when the means is operated in one position andwherebythe rollers will be swung within theflute'r edges of the reel when the means is operated in another position.

r 4C. In film unwinding mechanism, a film storage device comprising a reel having a s5 plurality ,of rollers arranged in circular series, eccentrically mounted rollers in series with said first named rollers, cranks for swingin said eccentrically mounted rollers about t eir eccentric bearings, and means for simultaneously actuating all of said cranks. Q W

'5. In film unwinding mechanism, a storage device comprising a reel including a plurality of rollers arranged in circular series, a spiral film-guiding track within the reel and having its discharge end offset from the reel, and a manually actuated tension roller adjacent to one of the rollers of the reel for feeding the film to the track.

6. In film unwinding mechanism, a pair of interchangeable storage devices, each of which is a duplicate of the other and each of which consists of a reel adapted to be mounted on a horizontal axis, a track leading from each reel in the form of an elliptical spiral and having a discharge end in a plane substantially parallel to the axis of the reel whereby the film will be delivered from the discharge end of one track to 110 the receiving end of the other track in a direct vertical plane to maintain an equal tension throughout the exposed portion of the film from the unwinding reel to the winding reel.

7. In film unwinding mechanism, a storage device upon which the film may be wound in a continuous coil, and means for relieving the tension on the inner circumference of the coil, said means comprising 120 eccentrically mounted rollers.

In testimony whereof I atfix my signature. 

